7 Month Checkup

I had my "six" month check up with my surgeon the other day. So far they are pleased with my progress and I am doing well. I have lost more than 50% of my excess body weight and so I am ahead of their expectations at this point. I mentioned that I am still having problems with nausea and they put me on Protonix, this is a much stronger acid blocker than I had previously been taking. If the nausea is related to acid reflux this should take care of the problem. I haven't been on it long enough yet to know if is working, but I'm hopeful.

Random things you learn after WLS

I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out, but I am sensitive to the Niacin in multi-vitamins. About the time that my pouch problems started I switched form my chewable bariatric vitamin to Centrum vitamins. Because of all the other issues I was having I didn't realize at first that these vitamins really upset my stomach. Not only do they give me pain in my pouch, they also make my skin flush, and give me a headache that lasts an hour or two. So needless to say I will not be using them anymore and my husband now has a years supply of vitamins. I don't know if this was a problem before the surgery because I never took a multi-vitamin until after I had the surgery. I will be going back to the expensive vitamins that don't make me feel like I want to die. If anyone out there needs Centrum coupons let me know :-).

Mini Wow Moment

There are moments when it hits me that my body is really different. We went out tonight and I had one of these wow moments. I used to have shirts that were perpetually stained in the chest area, I was always spilling food there. Today I sat down in a restaurant and put the napkin on my lap, it actually covered my whole lap. While I was eating I spilled food on my pants. The fact that I'm a klutz who spills her food may not seem like a real wow moment, but it indicates two things; 1. I actually have a lap now, 2. I'm small enough that there is room between me and the table that actually allows food to fall to my lap. So if the stain doesn't come out of the shorts it will be a reminder of how far I've come, and if it does come out, well there will be plenty more opportunities for me to spill food on my lap.

7 Month Update

No comparison this time, you all know what the old me looked like. Here is the new me. (The real reason is that photobucket hates me and messed up all my pictures, while I'm fixing that you can look at the new me.

I'm back!

I've been neglecting my blog. I went on vacation with a friend for a week and I am just now getting back into the swing of things. For the most part things are going well, the eating is improving and I am back to being able to eat "normally". In an average meal I can consume about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup of food depending on how dense it is. My liquid intake has been fabulous, now that I discovered loose leaf tea I am drinking about 80oz a day. All of these developments have kick started my weight loss, though I am still loosing slowly. I have lost 143 pounds. It is strange to think that I've lost more weight than some people weigh.

I've discovered two new favorite foods, soft cheeses with crackers, particularly Port Wine Cheese and Laughing Cow Light, I typically spread it on whole wheat crackers. I also love Carb Master Tortillas with peanut butter. Peanut butter and I are finally friends again, there was quite a long period of time where I couldn't eat it without feeling sick.

Some of you know that I have developed an obsession with coupons. A few months ago I was able to get a really good deal on Centrum Silver vitamins, unfortunately when I take them they make me feel like crap. I get a headache that lasts at least an hour, pain in my pouch and I flush all over. It is most likely a reaction to the niacin in the vitamins, I've had to go back to the expensive ones, but that is not the end of the world.

My hair loss has slowed down. It has not completely stopped but it is no longer coming out in handfuls. Hopefully this trend will continue and it will grow back in the same way it was before. I am self conscious about it, but my friends assure me that it is not noticeable.

Now that I can eat enough calories again I will be going back to an exercise routine. I am doing great so far but I can't get complacent and fall back on my old habits.

Slowly getting better

It seems like things are slowly getting better. I have not had any burning in my pouch in a few days and I have been able to eat more at each meal. I am cautiously optimistic at this point that what the doctor did worked. I'm still eating a pretty bland diet, but at least I can eat which is a huge step forward at this point.

Not much to report on the weight loss front. I think my body went into starvation mode when the eating problems started and I have only lost four pounds in the last month. Hopefully once I can start exercising and taking in the proper amount of calories the scale will start moving in the right direction.

I did have two small non-scale victories this week. When I was at the hospital for my procedure they gave me the normal size gown and it covered me up without a problem. I also go to wear the normal person's blood pressure cuff and not the one that says XL in big bold print on the side. Sometimes there is a lot of joy in the small things.

Getting Rid of Baggage

On Saturday morning I finally got up the courage to take all my oversize clothes to the good will. It was harder than I thought it would be to get rid of them, but six contractor bags later I feel a little more free of the weight that was bogging me down.

Endoscopy Results

The results of my endoscopy are good but slightly frustrating. He found no stricture and no ulcers, but the opening if my stoma (where my esophogaus meets my stomach) was only 11mm, he widened it to 18mm which is about as wide as they will go. After my endoscopy I ate lunch and was able to get down a more normal portion (normal for a person six months out from gastric bypass). I've been drinking all day without a problem, but this evening the slight discomfort is back and though I was able to eat more than I have in the past month for dinner, I still could not get down as much food as I had in the past.

I'm going to give it a few days and take it easy on my pouch. If that doesn't fix it I'll be back to the doctor to figure out what the next steps are. I did get some cool pictures of my insides that I'll post when I get them scanned.